I suppose its his capricious musical genius that was still in the romantique or classical period, he was so different from the traditional players like Mozart and Bach and Beethoven etc., but I'm curious to what you all think about the subject?

He writes usually very "charming", just listen to some of his pieces and you know what I mean. This is probably also the way Chopin played himself.

He is a master of melodies. He can composer many beautiful melodies, and not only melodies, but also the way he connects them. What Rachmaninoff (I mean the guy at the forum, not the real composer )said, every time the main theme comes back it's a little different, so usually there are no unnecessary repetitions, and it "flows" well. But he doesn't always begin easier than the end. Take the FI for example. That's a very hard piece to begin with.

Many of his pieces contain some elements of suffering, melancholy. That makes them beautiful, IMO.

His writing is very romantic. Many people can play Chopin as they want to, with freedom and rubato. That doesn't mean it always sounds good with a lot of rubato, but people can feel free playing Chopin. And many people love using pedal, which is present in Chopin's works (and they overuse it in Chopin ).

That's about my way of thinking . It's hard to describe, the best answer you can find is in his music. Just listen and play him and you know what it makes it so great.

Chopin's music has catchy melodies that stay with people, as well. They also sound very nice. Chopin can still sound nice in the hands of the worst of performers, unlike most other composers. Of course, it takes a talented individual to bring out the music well.
Also, Chopin's music embodies just about every aspect of piano tehnique. The Russians used his music as learning tools and graded his pieces from the easist to the hardest. This was an important part of their teaching system.
Chopin's music is more popular in certain ountries than in other countries. It is most prevailent in Poland for obvious reasons and in countries that use the Russian teaching approach such as Russia and China.

I think one must always remember that piano was really Chopin's only love, and that his music is always pianistic and conforms amazingly to the hand (even in the most difficult passages, like the coda of Op. 52 for example)

as many hav said already, his melodies are the most memorable and charming. i think he ought to make an excellent melody a priority for his compositions. all his pieces hav a charming melody line. however very little exceptions such as melancholic works may not include such clear distinct melodies.

I think there are a number of reasons as to why Chopin is so popular among pianists.

The first one is that he was a pianist himself, and, apart from a few pieces which included other instruments, he only wrote for piano. Because of this, his piano writing is immaculate. All too often I have come across pieces that have messy piano writing. You can never find this messy writing in Chopin.

Another reason is the siplicity. As you can see in my signature, Chopin regarded simplicity as the one achievement hardest to reach. He strived to make sure his compositions, though impossibly complex, were also as simple as, say, Mozart's melodies (whom Chopin worshipped himself).

The main one (for me at least) is the emotion that is in his works. He perfected every work, and, in doing so, put so much emotion into each one. The preludes are a perfect example. Each prelude is a translation of a human emotion. There are very few people who cannot listen to his E minor prelude and not be moved, because of the crushing sadness of it. Chopin did not see the piano as a huge instrument that should be bashed, (like his contemporary, Liszt) rather, he saw the piano as a quiet instrument (hence the name, piano). His works reflected that, and, because of the quiet emotion in his pieces, pianists cannot help but be drawn into these works.

I think one must always remember that piano was really Chopin's only love, and that his music is always pianistic and conforms amazingly to the hand (even in the most difficult passages, like the coda of Op. 52 for example)

This was going to be my answer - as well as being beautiful music, it is fun to play.

Chopin knew the formula how to put the listener into different emotions and that is not created only from a melody but from the entire arrangement. Indeed an extremely complex process, yet the solution can be very simple (and often is). Chopin had a prefect idea on which emotion he wanted to create at the listeners before he started to compose and George Sand told how Chopin could sit and rewrite a couple of bars 100 times before he was satisfied. The only reason you do that is that you look for the key to find the right emotion.

There are many other things to say and many things already said earlier in this thread and I especially agree with MorrisseyMan's post which was an insightful and intelligant reflection.

Chopin knew the formula how to put the listener into different emotions and that is not created only from a melody but from the entire arrangement. Indeed an extremely complex process, yet the solution can be very simple (and often is). Chopin had a prefect idea on which emotion he wanted to create at the listeners before he started to compose and George Sand told how Chopin could sit and rewrite a couple of bars 100 times before he was satisfied. The only reason you do that is that you look for the key to find the right emotion.

There are many other things to say and many things already said earlier in this thread and I especially agree with MorrisseyMan's post which was an insightful and intelligant reflection.

Indeed, his music resonates at the frequency of the human spirit. His is the only music that can move me to tears.

It's difficult to say why Chopin's music is so attractive. Personally, I prefer playing Chopin to any other composer.

Simplicity is at the heart of Chopin's music; there are many flashes of virtuosity and some of his music is furiously difficult, yet at its heart, his music is all about pure emotions. From the dreamy and content Nocturne in Eb (op. 9) to the angry Prelude in G minor, and the triumphant Heroic Polonaise, Chopin expresses every human emotion in his pieces.

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